Combined fire-proof elevator and ventilating-shaft



(No Model.)

0. O. GILMAN.

GOMBINE D EIEE PROOF ELEVATOR AND VENTILATING SHAFT.

Patented Sept. 2, 1884.

N. PETERS, Phnwumc n mr, Washinglon. n. c.

NITED STATES CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN, OF ELDORA, IO'lVA.

COMBINED FIRE-PROOF ELEVATOR AND VENTILATING-SHAFT.

fiPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,310, dated September 2, 188%.

Application filed April 16,1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, OnARLEs CARROLL GIL- MAN, of Eldora, in the county of Hardin and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Combined Fire-Proof Elevator and Ventilating-Shaft, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known that the shafts or spaces in which elevators, as now usually arranged and used in buildings, are inclos ed constitute a highly dangerous medium for the spread of the flames and smoke through the building in cases of fire.

It is the object of my invention to obviate the danger resulting from this source, and by combining with the elevator-shaft a safety airflue, to provide ventilation, whereby the flames, heat, and smoke shall be diverted from the elevator-shaft and from the halls and rooms adjacent thereto and conducted into the open air above the building.

The accompanying drawings represent my combined elevator-shaft and safety-flue,Figure 1 being a vertical section of the same, extend ing up through several stories of a building; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lower portion, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the same.

Ais the elevator-shaft, extending up through thebuilding fromthe lower to the upperstoriesi It is represented as divided into two compartments, with a lift or elevator, 13, in each. It is closed at the top with a skylight, O, of thick glass. The walls of this shaft are of brick or other fire-proof materiahcompletely inclosing the shaft or space in which the elevator or elevators run, and made solid, except the openings a for doors, and the openings 6 into the air-flue.

D is the air-flue which surrounds or is contiguous to the elevator-shaft. The walls of this are also fire-proof, preferably of brick. This flue may entirely surround the elevatorshaft, or it may occupy one or more of the sides thereof. It is made to extend up-through the roof of the building, and is preferably carried some distance to insure an active draft of air through it. structed as shown at c, where it passes through the roof, and is preferably provided with a hood,'b, to exclude rain. At the bottom are arches or openings E, which serve at once to admit air for ventilation and to afford access The upper end is conto the lower end of the elevator-shaft through doors F. The vouter walls of the flue D are pierced 011 each story, as shown at cl, to afford access to the doors f of the elevator-shaft, which should be solid and made of iron or some fire-proof material. Instead of glasswindows or open work in the doors to permit an outlook from the elevator, the windows should be provided with isinglass not liable to be cracked or broken by heat. The entrances to the doors of the elevator-shaft through the walls of the flue D are entirely inclosed at the top and bottom and on the sides by a floor, ceiling, and-walls,made of some fire-proof material,so as to be protected from flames, smoke, or heat in the air-flue. Both the inner and outer walls of the air-flue are pierced with moderately=sized openings, as shown at e e, on each floor, the openings in the outer walls being preferably near the ceilings of the contiguous rooms, and those in the inner walls alittle below those in the outer walls, in order that the flames and smoke that may enter the flue D from contiguous external rooms through the openings 0 may not be liable to find their way into the elevator-shaft through the openings 6. Through the shaft Dthus constructed there will be a constant upward draft of air, its intensity being dependent upon the height of the flue above the roof. It will thus act as a draft-flue to draw into itself and conduct out into the open air above the buildings flames, smoke, andheat, both from the elevatonshaft, in case fire should originate in or get access to the same, and the interior of the building adjacent to the flue, thereby rendering it possible to continue the running of the elevator during a tire, and relieving in some measure the heat and smoke of a fire, which are so formidable an obstacle to firemen in their efforts to subdue fires in their early stages. The described air-flue also acts as an efficient means for the perpetual ventilation of the building in which it is employed. I

What I claim as my invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a building, of an elevatorshaft having fireproof walls and closed 100 at the top, and a surrounding or contiguous fireproof air-flue opening at the top through the roof of the building into the open air, the wall or walls between the said shaft and flue being provided with an opening, 6, all as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, in a building, of a fireproof elevator-shaft, A, closed at the top,and 5 a surrounding or contiguous fire-proof ventilating-flue, B, opening at the top through the roof of the building into the open air, with entrance-passages through their walls for communioatin g between the elevator-shaft and the IO exterior of the ventilating flue, which entrances are inclosed with fireproof material at the top and bottom and at the sides, whereby all communication between the said passages and the air-flue is cut off, as and for the pur- I 5 pose described.

CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN.

Witnesses:

A. G. N. VERMILYA, HENRY EICHLING. 

